I was whining last week that my 9831 HU sounded wank with my Kappa Perfects. Since then I ordered a Soundstream VGA500.4 which arrives today. Didn't see much opinion on this amp but it gives me a perfect 125watts/channel for my perfects plus 500w mono 4 ohm for the sub.

So I need a sub. I am in the process of making one of the boxes in the FAQ that fits in the boot well and looking to put a 10" in there.

My local shop has an Alpine R for $100 and an Eclipse Aluminum for $170. Is 500w too much to run the Alpine which is rated at 300w RMS? I think the eclipse takes more power but cant find any info on box size recommendations.

Am I correct in thinking my sub options are a SVC 4ohm or a DVC 2ohm wired in series?

Advice would be appreciated.

P.S. I am looking for tight accurate bass but not overbearing. I listen to all types of music.

 

I am biased, but I love the Eclipse Al subs. I used to run their 12" that was tighter then most 10"s I have heard plus it went deep. I don't think you will be dissapointed, especially paired with a solid 500watts from the VGA. (I have heard the Alpine Rs are nice as well though)

As for box sizing, Eclipse gives you all the variables so that you can plug them into a speaker box calculator. So it depends on what you want your Qtc to be. Rough guess is .75cuft should be good. You can check this site out though.

http://www.carstereo.com/help2/Articles.cfm?id=26


Edit: It looks like Eclipse has totally changed their lineup. $170 is pretty cheap so find out the model number, they have multiple versions of the AL subs now. If it's the older SW8 series though, let me know and I will take one!

 

Thanks for the info.

I followed the link you gave me and used the calculator. Not sure what Qtc I require but they say most boxes have Qtc of .9 to 1.2. In that range a box of 0.7 to 2.2 ft^3 is required. I am building the box from the FAQ thread which is just over .9ft^3 so I should be fine.

I actually only called the store and they gave me those prices. There are two levels of aluminum subwoofer according to the Eclipse website, the 7100 and 7300 series, so maybe this is a lower model?!?! I will go check them tonight and see how they compare to the Alpines.

 

For the sound you are looking for, you are going to want a Qtc of .9-1 IMO.

When trying to see if the Eclipse would work in my JL Stealthbox, I found most of their reccomended enclosure sizes were set around .94 That should be a safe bet.

You need to know exactly what speaker it is first because even the DVC vs SVC has slightly different specs. Granted I have no idea if you could even hear a difference between .9 and 1, maybe some of the more experienced box builders can chime in.

Or if you are interested in a JL W3V2 at 3 ohms (The VGA500.4 is 3ohm stable when bridged) let me know.

 

Thanks again for the info.

The shop is also a JL dealer so I will make a note to listen to the JL W3v2 and compare.

As far as they box goes, the FAQ thread says a box of greater than 0.9ft^3 is about the max given the S2000 trunk (using MDF) so its a limiting factor. I will use the Qtc of .9 to 1.0 as a basis and compare the specs to the different Eclipse subs they have to figure which one would be best in a small enclosure.

Stupid question: If stable at 3 ohms then I get more power?

 

Yes you will get more power. Theoretically, 666 watts

I am running the same amp to a pair of BA Pros up front at 3ohms and the JL sub at 3 ohms. Sounds great other then the weak subout signal on my 9833.

Have fun trying to read the manual though....

 

I saw your thread regarding the weak bass output. I will let you know if I have the same issues with my 9831 and same amp.

Thanks